Pinyin as it relates to the internet, etc..

[Guest jderke]

I'm having difficulty understanding the Pinyin representation of the Chinese language as it relates to the internet, etc...

for example, if i were refering to "food".. it seems like I should type it as Shi2 Wu4 .. and yet, it seems like it's also typed as Shi Wu .. which seems like, to me, could mean

Shi2 Wu3 - fifteen

Shi4 Wu4 - work

So.. why don't I see pronunciation numbers consistently? Also, with regards to the internet, a lot of Chinese language websites seem to have english url's... a lot seem to have numbers.. I know there's an effort to utilize Chinese characters for that, but, does Pinyin Representation have a role? and, should I have written Pin1 Yin1 in that sentence? or is Pinyin correct?

Thanks for helping me understand

[smithsgj]

Strictly speaking you should write the numbers: this is the official system now (previously, you were supposed to write a tone diacritic, like an acute or grave accent, over the syllable).

But as with all things, economy of effort applies. You have to think about those tome numbers, and if it's not necessary for comprehension, why bother? Quite often on this forum people use Chinese characters anyway.

[skylee]

In my opinion, they should be written as 食物 and 拼音 respectively.

I think pinyin is just a tool and how it is represented really depends.

[Guest jderke]

Thanks.. that helps

[skylee]

Strictly speaking you should write the numbers: this is the official system now (previously, you were supposed to write a tone diacritic, like an acute or grave accent, over the syllable).

Is this true? I thought it was just the way people on internet wrote.

[Guest jderke]

skylee.. that's the part I don't really get.. If I write the word Shi Wu in a sentence, it seems, based on my understanding, that those words could mean about four different things, and that I'd have to figure it out based on the context of the sentence. It seems like the only way I could figure it out would be by including the numbers.. but it does not seem like I usually see numbers.. ??

[Quest]

We don't read in pinyin. It's just there to help you learn to pronounce the characters. Without the tone indications, or even with them, most of the time you still have to rely on the context for the actual meaning. Learn to read in characters. Don't worry about not being able to read pinyins without tone marks, no one can.

[smithsgj]

Skylee yes they changed it. The official system now includes a 5 for neutral tone (used to be unmarked; there was a discussion somewhere in these forums about whether marking them was sensible, which a search for "neutral tone" would probably throw up if anyone wants to read it).

OP might like Gwoyeu Romatzh (I think that's how you spell it). In this romanization system, the *spelling* reflects the tone, so ma1 might be spelt 'mar' and ma2 'mah' (those aren't real examples but you get the idea). That way you can't be lazy and skip the tones in the transcription.

Anyone learning Chinese probably should learn to write actual characters -- but romanization is, as Q says, a useful learning tool, and it enables people without the software or inclination to participate. And it probably could replace characters one day, but I'm not going to reopen that particular can of worms.

[smithsgj]

It's probably Gwoyeu Romatzyh.